Okay…I’ve had some rest, and time to fully absorb the
awesomeness of the film. Now, it’s time to talk.
So if anyone is interested in seeing this film with fresh
eyes and an uncluttered mind, STOP NOW!!!
You’ve been warned.
I’m gonna start with the trailers…
I saw the new one for Amazing
Spider-Man. I admit I haven’t said much about this film, and it’s mostly
because I’m on the fence about it. I like that Sony’s going with Gwen instead
of MJ, and that the Lizard is the villain. I really like that they’re using mechanical web shooters instead of
“organic” ones. I like the casting of Martin Sheen and Sally Field as Ben and
May Parker. What I’m on the fence about is Andrew Garfield. He’s British, and
when I see him on screen I keep thinking “the accent is fake, the accent is
fake…” Cristian Bale is from Wales , but
you’d never know it from interviews he’s had. What really turns me off of this
film is this: We’ve all seen this before,
so…WTF?
The next trailer was for The
Dark Knight Rises, the new one with the exploding bridges. I’m looking forward to this, but I realized
in that moment how dark that trilogy truly is. Especially when put against the
bold brightness that is The Avengers.
I don’t plan on seeing it opening weekend, but I will at some point – just to
see how Nolan ends his story.
The third and final trailer was for Brave. This is a film I’m definitely seeing over the summer. I’m a
big fan of Pixar, but haven’t seen any of their work since Wall-E. I want my
daughter to see it. I want every
daughter to see it. It looks like fun.
Now for the intro:
I was worried about seeing the Walt Disney Studios logo in
this film. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about seeing it, or how they’d do it –
would it be a quickie, or a longer more dominating presence telling everyone
that they’re in charge now? I wound up being surprised…
It wasn’t there.
I guess it’s a good thing. We all know Disney now has
distribution rights to all future Marvel Studios films, so ending “Phase One”
of the Marvel Movie Universe as it began makes sense.
As for the film –
I’m glad they integrate both Marvel-616 and Ultimate origins
into the film by having Loki and the Chitauri work together to invade/take over
Earth. Loki wound up on the Chitauri homeworld after falling off the Rainbrow Bridge
Robert Downey Jr. is fantastic in this film. He plays Stark
exactly as he has thus far, and we get to see him be a hero. He not only saves
the Helicarrier and all of Manhattan ,
but also destroys the Chitauri mothership. We also see Gwyneth Paltrow reprise
her role as Pepper Potts – which was great - and I always get a kick out of how
they make her look shorter that Tony even though Gwyneth is at least 4 inches
taller than RDJ.
Chris Evans kicks ass as Cap. He fights Loki single-handedly
for a bit, but he really shines during the invasion. In Captain America, we saw him as a fighter and a team player with the
Howling Commandos, but as the Chitari advance, Cap’s leadership takes over.
He’s ordering Avengers and local police around like it’s second nature and it
works perfectly. My only issue was when he mentions “there’s only one God…”,
but that’s exactly what Steve Rogers
would say.
Thor arrives after Loki escapes from Cap and Iron Man, and
here’s where I have my first big WTF? Thor takes Loki to a mountaintop (while
Cap and IM look for him) and it’s explained in one line that Odin pulled some
strings and used some “dark magic” in order for Thor to return to Midgard. Why
couldn’t we see Thor on Asgard as the
portal opens, telling his father that he’ll bring Loki home? It would have been
a much better transition, instead of Thor just appearing. Other than that,
Chris Hemsworth was awesome. The fight scene between him and the other heroes
was great, but it brings me to my next WTF? which is a little nitpick, and it’s
Mjolnir. It doesn’t tussle/tumble when Thor throws it. Ever. It flies straight
and true, like it did in Thor. I
can’t believe it’s something that was forgotten, so it must be because Whedon
simply ran out of time. I’m convinced that if they had six more months in
post-production, it would have been done. So I’ll call this an “it is what it
is” rather than an “oops”.
Mark Ruffalo had the hardest job. He had to make his Bruce
Banner completely different from Eric Bana’s, yet similar enough to Edward
Norton’s to work within the Marvel Movie Universe. He succeeded. His
interactions with RDJ and Evans were wonderful. The “Hulk-out” scenes worked,
and I don’t think I’m alone when I say he seemed to have channeled his inner
Bill Bixby. As for the Hulk, his scenes with both Loki and Thor were hilarious.
I also like how he saved Tony’s life…twice.
Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye to me had the least amount of screen
time. Having him spend half the movie working against the Avengers falls in line with his comic origins, but I
would have liked more “bow and arrow” and less “gun and ammo”. His best scenes
were during the invasion, when he took to a roof and helped the team by giving
them hints based on his observations. Brilliant. I’ve known this character
thirty years and I never would have thought to use him that way. I also liked
the Legolas reference, and the fact that he ran out of arrows. My hope is that
they’ll eventually make him deaf – like he is in the comics. Having a deaf
marksman is a classic Marvel move, and should happen in the MMU, but I can
wait.
Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow is a force to be reckoned
with. Like Renner, her screen time was limited, but she packed a punch in every
scene she had. She closed the portal
for crying out loud. They also kept enough of her in the dark for future films,
so note to Marvel Studios – MORE BLACK WIDOW!!!
Now the biggest WTF? – Coulson’s death. W…T…F?!? Damn you
Whedon…
Okay – Coulson’s death is what winds up bringing the team
together, and it was nice to see him take his shot at Loki. But we learn that
Fury manipulated the heroes by showing the bloody cards, and we don’t see Coulson’s body being taken away
– we just hear Fury say so over the intercom. Plus, there’s talk of Clark Gregg
appearing in Iron Man 3. Could be a
ruse, could be fact.
Still…DAMN YOU WHEDON!!!
Now for the closing credits…
I fought every instinct to not read the spoilers. So when I
saw the clip start, I was genuinely surprised…but I knew in a second that it
would be Thanos. HOLY S#!T was that nice. I wasn’t sure if they’d go with a
link to IM3, Avengers 2 or something completely different, but it was awesome to
see. My guess is that Thanos won’t be until Avengers
3 though, because they’re going to need to introduce a butt-load of other
characters between now and then: Adam Warlock, Drax the Destroyer, Moondragon,
Pip the Troll, Gamora and Captain Mar-Vell just for starters, but he’ll be
doing things behind the scenes in every movie in between – guaranteed.
Finally, there’s the clip that’s exclusive to the American
release.
FANTASTIC!!!
Only in America
would a scene like that work. Thirty
years I’ve been waiting for this film, and seeing the lot of them sitting
around a table eating was perfect. And don’t tell me Thor and Bruce aren’t
holding an eating competition.
So that’s it…until the Blu-ray.
Excelsior, Make Mine Marvel, and as always…
In Marvel Studios I
Trust
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